A look back at the 2008 draft

The Heros did not pick in the 1st or 2nd round of the draft but still came away with many talented players. Lack of patients costed the Heros some find talent that just took an extra year to get on track.

3rd rd (27) SP Mat Latos, one of the best picks in the draft, has become a front line SP. Was traded in the deal taht netted SP Chris Carpenter.

3rd rd (28)SP Hirki Kuroda, has a been a solid SP at the major leagues ever since being drafted. Was traded for a 4th rd pick in 2009 draft.

4th rd (43) 1B/OF Steven Pearce, not much came out of this player. Was traded before the season in the deal that got the Hero 2b Dustin Pedrioa. HAs been own by a few CPL teams since being traded.

5th rd (54)SS/2B Asdrubal Cabrera, turned into a starting middle infielder at the major league level. Worthy of being picked in the 5th round.

5th rd (55) 3B Billy Rowell, the 2nd time the team wasted a draft choice on Rowell, the former 6th overall MLB draft pick has done nothing to live up to the 6th overall.

6th rd (65) OF Ryan Kalish, a sound pick looking back at it, but the Heros did not take there time and after an injury plagued year Kalish was released. In 2010 wasa 2nd rd pick in the CPL.

6th rd (67) SP Kyle Kendrick, below avarage major league SP, was released outright after 2 month campain to trade him.

7th rd (76) SP/RP CJ Wilson, was nice pick at this spot. Won the closer job in 2008, then last year was one of the better left handed SP out there. Lost CJ Wilson in the exp draft.

7th rd (77) OF Gerrardo Parra, while he has done little since becoming a major league player, he did make BA top 100 in 2009 and was traded to Fred's team in the Brandon Webb trade.

7th rd (78) RP Masahide Kobiyashi, bad pick played 2 poor season in the majors and went home to Japan. RP Daniel Bard was the next player, that would have been nice.

8th rd (85) C John Jaso, has turned into a good to avarage MLB player but was cut before the end of the 2008 season. OPening starting C for the Rolling Goats?

8th rd (86) SP Chorye Spoon, who? Was a sleeper coming into that season, not sure if he is still in baseball at this point or not.

10th rd (100) C Devin Mescaro, was cut before the year was out and like Kalish it took year (in Devin case 2 years) to payout. Going to the 2011 season Devin is a top 50 overall prospect.

In all there was 13 picks made by the Heros and of which 5 where flops. The other 8 were at least good picks in the round that they were taken. Latos was the rown jewel of the draft for the Heros and would a top 6 overall pick if we redrafted today. With no high round draft pick this draft value was much more then the picks that were used overall draft Grade: B

Brian Wilson a Hero?

A deal was offered to the Heroes that would have brought closer Brian Wilson to the team. The price was just a little too much, two 1st rd picks #6 and #10. Ray would make you think that this is good value based on the Broxon trade last off season. But this will not happen again.

Rem was quick to get into the trade the Heros a closer by offering Ryan Franklin for 2 1st rounders.

Complete Minor League Ball Rankings

1) Mike Trout, OF, Grade A: Complete package if his power fully develops, and still an excellent player even if it doesn't.

3) Mike Minor, LHP, Grade A-: Borderline B+. I think he can be a number two starter. Right on the edge between those two grades for me.

2) Derek Norris, C, Grade B+: Could be another Mickey Tettleton or Gene Tenace, low batting average slugger with a high walk rate. I am more optimistic about his glove than some people.

3) Jason Kipnis, 2B, Grade B+: Love the bat, and glove should be at least average with a bit more time.

4) Tanner Scheppers, RHP, Grade B: Very tough to rank. Was great in relief early, stumbled in the rotation, and was horrible back in the bullpen late.

7) Chris Dwyer, LHP, Grade B: Almost went with a B+, but something holds me back a bit on him. Great stuff, but I'm not totally sold on his command yet.

7) Oswaldo Arcia, OF, Grade B: Borderline B-, grade may change. Great numbers in Appy League, but plate discipline issue is of concern.

7) Marc Krauss, OF, Grade B-: I like him more than some people, but his defense and lack of speed are legitimate issues.

8) Aaron Miller, LHP, Grade B-: Command collapse in Double-A is worrisome, but will try again this year and power lefties aren't that easy to find.

10) Johnny Giavotella, 2B, Grade B-: Love the bat, defense still needs some work but has improved a bit.

11) A.J. Pollock, OF, Grade B-: Injury mulligan for a player with across-the-board average tools and skills.

14) Edward Salcedo, SS, Grade B-: Borderline C+. Extremely difficult to grade and rank. Grade A tools, Grade D skills, could be a superstar but also has a high chance to be a bust given his hacktastic approach. You could put him as high as number nine depending on what you emphasize as an analyst.

8) Reese Havens, 2B, Grade C+: Would rank higher with at least a B- or a B if he could stay healthy.

15) Christian Bethancourt, C, Grade C+: Like Salcedo, there is high bust potential here, especially offensively, but he's very young and has all the tools, especially on defense.

Ryan Howard To the Heros?

Early Sunday Jan 9th afternoon an offer came to the Heros that would land them Ryan Howard. 1B is the biggest need area for the Heros and early in the off season a play was made for the philly slugger.

The price 4 1st rd pick was a little too high for the aging 1B. A closer look reviled 3 years in a row with drops in HR, RBI's, and walks. Already in his 30's who know how long he can stay elite?

Bullpen Banter Top 10 Center Fielders

1. Mike Trout
2. Desmond Jennings
3. Aaron Hicks
4. Brett Jackson
5. Michael Choice
6. Trayvon Robinson
7. Engel Beltre
8. Jared Mitchell
9. Joe Benson
10. Anthony Gose

MIKE TROUT

Al Skorupa: Mike Trout is about as good a prospect as there is in the game right now. Impact defender in CF. High average hitter. Fantastic speed already translating to big SB numbers. Great approach at the plate. The power doesn’t rank up there with his other tools, but there is good reason for optimism on that front. Trout also savaged the competition in leagues where he was younger than the competition. He exploded onto the scene with a .362/.454/.526 slash line in the difficult-to-hit-in Midwest League (just don’t tell Trout, Will Myers or Nick Franklin that!). Trout snuck up on many people because he came from a cold weather state out of high school. He didn’t get the exposure sun belt prospects or players at major colleges & universities do. Between the tools and the performance he showed in 2010 there is now every reason to think he will spend a decade or more among the best CFs (if not players) in baseball. Trout looks like the rare kind of player who can be a game changer with all five tools.

Michael Herrick: I'm still not completely in love with Trout as so many other people are, but that said he was an easy choice to headline this list. He should be an above average hitter in center and at worst an average defender. I think there is a legitimate chance he ends up in RF sooner rather than later once he reaches the majors, as the less wear and tear on his body would be a big benefit for his bat long term. I'm curious to see him against better pitching in AA at some point in 2011, to see just how good his approach is.

Jeff Reese: I have a hard time seeing right field in Mike Trout's future. His present and future speed grades out as a pure 80, while his arm strength - one of his weakest tools - is merely fringe-average. I can envision a scenario where Peter Bourjos is the better defensive option in center field, but I would expect that to push Trout to left field rather than right. Even if that were to happen, he would be one of the best defensive left fielders in baseball (negating most of the loss in positional value).

Bullpen Banter Top 10 Corner OF

Bullpen Banter's Top 10 COF Prospects of 2010
Click above to be directed to BullpenBanter.com

1. Bryce Harper
2. Josh Sale
3. Jaff Decker
4. Oswaldo Arcia
5. Kyle Parker
6. Michael Taylor
7. Yorman Rodriguez
8. Marc Krauss
9. Eric Thames
(T)10. Nick Weglarz
(T)10. Thomas Neal

OSWALDO ARCIA

AS: Arcia is superficially similar to Harper. Power is the calling card here. The difference being that what questions exist about the rest of Harper's game go twice (or more) for Arcia. With the added risk that his approach at the plate is poor. I can see arguments for ranking him higher... and I can see arguments for ranking him lower. He's one of those guys who its very hard to pin down right at this moment in time. I really wish I had even 3 months more of data to go on here. Maybe 100 ABs in another league. I would have been able to take a firmer stand on what exactly we're looking at. As of now you just need to be aware he's a kid with substantial upside.

MH: Oswaldo Arcia is another guy that is going to be carried by his bat. He showed very good power in Rookie Ball, but his other numbers were inflated by an unsustainable BABIP. His plate discipline needs work, as his walk rate much too low. His K rate was fairly high on it's own, but he'll need to get that in check as he moves up the ladder and faces better pitchers. Still, he'll turn 20 early next season and the power is real. There is potential here, he's just quite a few years away from making an impact.

JR: I placed Arcia a few spots lower than this on my list. As Al and Mike noted, the bat is what makes him intriguing, while the rest of the package lags behind. What really surprised me is the love that Arcia got compared to Guillermo Pimentel. I view them as almost identical prospects. Both are international free agents needing significant refinement in their approach to the plate whose bat will have to carry them.

AS: It was my impression when I started working on this that Pimentel is less toosly and even more one dimensional than Arcia. I'm less sure of that at this point, though. I'll definitely do some digging and put some more thought into this for our top 100 list. There probably isn't all that much difference between them, I agree... but then again, from #5 on my list through, say, my 15th ranked corner outfielder I don't see a whole lot of difference.

MARC KRAUSS

MH: Krauss is built like a linebacker and plays defense about as well as you'd expect from a guy that size. His bat is what will carry him(sensing a theme on this list yet?), though he may be better suited to 1B or DH at the MLB level. He has 25 HR pop in his bat and showed decent plate discipline in the Cal League. Next year will be a test for him as moves out of an extremely hitter friendly league and faces better pitching.

JR: Krauss is almost certainly destined for first base, but the amount of prospects who profile best at first base in the Diamondbacks' organization (Goldschmidt, Borchering, Davidson, Wheeler) may mean he gets a longer look in left field. Luckily for him, Krauss continued to show a good bat through his first full professional season. He will have to keep up that kind of production to be of Major League value.

AS: Speaking of one dimensional corner guys... Same as above. Bat promising. Glove not so much.

2011 Project Stats Infielders and Catchers

1B James Loney .290 15HR 88RBI 74Runs 51BB 10SB 152GM
1B Michael Cuddyer .270 20HR 90RBI 76RBI 55BB 3SB 152GM
2B Dustin Pedroia .315 18HR 78RBI 110Runs 64BB 15SB 152GM
2B Bill Hall .240 17HR 80RBI 74Runs 43BB 10SB 142GM
SS Elvis Andrus .290 1HR 61RBI 110Runs 70BB 42SB 148GM
SS Jed Lowrie .285 17HR 81RBI 90Runs 75BB 7SB 142GM
3B Ryan Zimmerman .310 31HR 100RBI 91Runs 75BB 0SB 152GM
3B Casey Blake .260 16HR 70RBI 60Runs 41BB 0SB 125GM
IF Felipe Lopez .271 9HR 60RBI 65Runs 32BB 10SB 110GM
C AJ Pierzynski .280 12HR 65RBI 51Runs 25BB 0SB 130GM
C Jarad Saltalamachia .255 16HR 60RBI 51Runs 36BB 0SB 125GM
DH Travis Hafner .265 15HR 51RBI 39Runs 41BB 0SB 81GM

2011 Project Stats Outfielders

These are number I think they can hit next year if they play the predicted games. Some may fall short and some may supass these numbers.

Overall my OF's have pretty good pop but lack of steals could be a real problem.

OF Jay Bruce .280 34HR 100RBI 85Runs 60BB 5SB 155Gm
OF Travis Snider .260 25HR 75RBI 70Runs 55BB 10SB 140Gm
OF Nick Markakis .295 12HR 85RBI 90Runs 80BB 12SB 155GM
OF Manny Ramirez .290 18HR 80RBI 65Runs 75BB 0SB 120GM
OF Ryan Sweeney .300 1HR 65RBI 75Runs 45BB 7SB 130GM
OF Alfonso Soriano .255 24HR 80RBI 75Runs 35BB 8SB 130GM
OF JD Drew .270 18HR 80RBI 75Runs 70BB 130GM

2011 Top 100 Prospects

http://www.deepleagues.com/?p=2248

Deep League just relesed there top 100 list. Here is how the Heroes ranked.

3. Mike Trout—OF, Angels
21. Mike Minor—P, Braves
44. Tanner Scheppers—P, Rangers
71. Chris Dwyer—P, Royals
79. Alexander Colome—P, Rays
80. Derek Norris—C, Nationals
100 Oswaldo Arcia—OF, Twins

Also her is a list of former Heros that made the top 100
8. Julio Teheran—P, Braves
30. Miguel Sano—3B, Twins
49. Alex White—P, Indians
66. Arodys Vizcaino—P, Braves
68. Dellin Betances—P, Yankees
87. Anthony Rizzo—1B, Padres
98. Andrew Brackman—P, Yankees

Trade 12/7/2010

Kelly's Heros
1st rd (2012)
2nd rd 20th overall

Gi Zo's Gets
SP Julio Teheran
3rd rd (2012)

Jay Bruce Resigns with Reds

Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com reports that the Reds have signed outfielder Jay Bruce to a six-year, $56 million contract extension.

Zach Lee

The Kelly's Heroes have 3 picks in the top 10 in the upcoming CPL draft. With the top 4 picks locks in draft we have a good idea who will be left when the Heros pick at 6th, 7th and 10th.

The Heroes are looking at Lee with either the 7th or 10th overall. Now that he picked baseball and signed for over $5 million he could be an 1 or 2 a starter in the future.

Lee is a star quarterback who has committed to LSU to play both football and baseball, but if he put word out tomorrow that he was willing to sign and focus exclusively on the world's greatest sport, he'd go off the board in the top 50 picks next month.

Lee will show three pitches, with the changeup already flashing plus, and his fastball velocity is likely to increase as he fills out and if he dedicates himself to baseball.

He has a really bright future if and when he chooses baseball, but if he's not interested in a pro career now, doesn't that say something about the kid's commitment to football and/or school? Buying him out of LSU isn't the solution, and I think he'll be a top-20 guy in 2013.

Drew Pomeranz

The Kelly's Heroes have 3 picks in the top 10 in the upcoming CPL draft. With the top 4 picks locks in draft we have a good idea who will be left when the Heros pick at 6th, 7th and 10th.

The Heroes are looking at Pomeranz with either the 7th or 10th overall. Worry that he may be a thrower then a pitcher. But upside of an #1 or #2

Drew Pomeranz, lhp Born: Nov. 22, 1988 • B-T: R-L • Ht: 6-5 • Wt: 230 Drafted: Mississippi 2010 (1st round) • Signed by: Chuck Bartlett


Background: The younger brother of Cardinals 2003 third-round pick Stu Pomeranz, Drew almost signed with the Rangers out of high school as a 12th-rounder in 2007. He set the career strikeout record at Mississippi and was the 2010 Southeastern Conference pitcher of the year despite having to deal with a mild pectoral strain in May. He recovered to become the first college pitcher drafted in 2010, going No. 5 overall and signing for $2.65 million at the Aug. 16 deadline.

Scouting Report: Pomeranz has two plus pitches in his fastball and curveball. His fastball sits in the low 90s and touches 95 mph. It has good life and the deception in his delivery makes it tough to track the ball out of his hand. His breaking ball is even more devastating, a knuckle-curve with hard 12-to-6 action. Pomeranz dominated college lineups when he threw his curve for strikes, though he still must to corral his control after walking 4.4 batters per nine innings as a junior. He has flashed a solid-average changeup at times and will need to use it more as a pro.

The Future: Pomeranz could follow the path of 2009 first-rounder Alex White, debuting in high Class A with the chance for a quick promotion to Double-A. He could be in Cleveland by 2012, profiling as a frontline starter if he improves his changeup, control and command.